Bakugou opened his eyes, the gloomy sky illuminating his bedroom. Rain tapped against the window, as soft thunder sounded in the distance. Normally he would have been up before the sun. Not working was going to mess up his sleep schedule, he thought to himself. His attention was pulled away from his thoughts at the soft snore that came from the figure in his arms. His gaze moved to the ruffled purple hair in front of him. Harper was cradled in his arms, head tucked into the crook of his neck. He could feel her soft breaths against his skin. Her hands still gripped the back of his shirt as if he would disappear any second.
One of his hands was tangled in her soft locks, he gently pulled it away before running his hand through her hair softly. He was so used to waking up alone, getting right out of bed and into his daily routine. This was now the second day he's woken up to Harper in his arms. He feared that he would get too used to this but he certainly wasn't going to stop it.
Last night, he remembered her scream pulling him out of his sleep. He had run so quickly to his room only to realize she was having a nightmare. He didn't even think, the next thing he knew he was at her side holding onto her. There were so many emotions last night. He felt a strong guilt knowing that it was his fault she had been kidnapped in the first place and that was haunting her now. But he had also felt so close to her.
Holding her as she sobbed into his chest, he was able to help her calm down. She was able to feel safe in his arms. That brought him a great sense of pride but also something else he couldn't exactly place. When she had whispered against his ear, calling him her hero. He couldn't explain how that made him felt. He had worked so hard to become a hero, worked so hard to be one of the best heroes but every compliment, every congratulation felt nonexistent compared to her words.
A buzz from his phone took him out of his thoughts. He did his best to reach over to the bedside table without waking up Harper. Reading the message he was instantly frustrated. It was a link to an article from one of the big hero gossip networks. Their favorite pass time was digging into pro heroes' personal business and spreading it everywhere.
A picture of him and Harper going into the ramen place hand in hand was with the headline. Ground Zero spotted with American mystery girl! Thankfully it wasn't a great photo, Harper's face was obscured and it was more him in the photo than anything else. He let out a huff. This was the last thing they needed. He knew that she had purposely used a pen name to avoid being in the public eye. The media was brutal, people were quick to say horrible things about people the knew nothing about. He didn't want Harper to have to deal with that. What if she couldn't handle it, would she break up with him? He had asked his publicist to make sure that nothing got out yesterday, he wanted to avoid this happening but obviously, they had failed.
He let out a sigh. Harper started to move around, readjusting herself against his shoulder.
"Katsuki?" Her soft voice was muffled against his shirt. He felt his chest warm at the use of his given name.
"Good morning." He said as she looked up at him. She stared at him blankly for a moment before a smile lit up her face.
"Good morning." She said, her voice groggy before resting her head against his shoulder again.
"How did you sleep?" He asked. She hadn't woken up again after he got into the bed with her. At least he knew she hadn't had any nightmares after the first.
"Really good." She answered with a soft smile, her fingers ghosting over the shoulder she wasn't leaning on.
He wanted to bring up the article but didn't want to ruin the morning just yet. He figured he could let her wake up more, have a cup of coffee and he could tell her over breakfast. Rumbling sounds from Harper's stomach interrupted them.
"I take it you're hungry?" He said with a smirk.
"Sounds like it." She laughed.
"Let me make you breakfast." He said before sitting up. Harper reluctantly got off of him and onto the bed.
"Do you need help?" She offered.
"I don't know how much you could help." He teased. She returned with a poke to his ribs.
"Rude." She said. "I mean a student is only as good as the person teaching them."
"Oi, I only taught you one thing and according to you it was amazing." He growled. "If you want to learn how to cook more then I'll teach you something else."
"Sounds good to me." She said. "Now go cook me breakfast."
She laughed at the dirty look he gave her before leaving the bedroom. She was getting bolder, he thought to himself. She had been very teasing over the phone but he could tell that she had been shy at first after they met. But it seemed she was getting comfortable now. He was feeling the same way. Every moment they spent with each other the more it felt like they had been together their whole lives.
Harper took advantage of Bakugou going to the kitchen to go to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out looking to see who it was. Emily had messaged her. Harper had kept her posted on everything that had happened. When she told her about the kidnapping she was about to fly out but she was able to calm her down and explain that everything was okay. She had been shocked to find out that Bakugou was a pro hero but she realized that was why she had recognized him before. She must have seen him before but hadn't remembered exactly where.
Emily's worries had calmed down as Harper explained how things were going with Bakugou. She still wanted Harper to check in with her every day so she knew she was safe but it seemed her friend trusted what she had heard from her about Bakugou enough for most of her fears to be gone.
She threw a hoodie on before strolling into the living room. The TV could be heard from the living room side of the room. She walked over to Bakugou, he turned to hand her a cup of coffee. She was impressed at how quickly he had made the coffee. He was a smart man, he knew his priorities.
"You can relax, I'll tell you when it's ready." He said.
"Okay." She replied before heading over to the couch. She plopped down, sitting with her legs crossed and grabbing a pillow to put on her lap so she could perch her coffee mug on it. She watched the news, she was able to catch most of what was going on even if they did talk pretty fast. There were some reports of notable hero work in the past few days. She caught a few names, Chargebolt, Ingenium, and Tsukuyomi. She wondered if Bakugou knew any of them.
The morning news moved onto to one of those celebrity gossip shows. They began to preview what they would talk about today. She wondered how it compared to American gossip.
What she wasn't expecting was to see a picture of her and Bakugou from yesterday.
"Today we'll talk about Ground Zero and his mystery girlfriend. Now, we all know Ground Zero is known for being pretty hostile and prickly so it's no wonder we've never seen him with any girls." One host said.
"No doubt he's good looking but is it worth that personality." The other host butted in getting a laugh from the audience. Harper frowned.
"For the first time, we spotted him on an intimate date yesterday with this unknown girl. We have so many questions! Who is she? Where did she come from? And is she okay?" The audience laughed along with her.
"Breakfast is ready-" Bakugou said walking over before catching sight of the screen.
"What the hell!" She yelled at the TV, standing up.
"Harper, I'm sorry. I found out when I woke up, I told my publicist to keep photos of us out of the news but those leeches ended up with one. I was going to tell you over breakfast." He explained, if she listened close enough he almost sounded like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "I don't think they figured out who you are yet. I told my publicist to take care of it."
"Katsuki," She said her voice softer than before. She turned to Bakugou. "I don't care about them finding out who I am. I'm mad because what they're saying about you."
"Oh." He said dumbfounded. "It doesn't matter, they tear everyone apart on there. It's not a big deal."
"It's not a big deal?" She said frustrated. She had to admit she was taken off guard at how quickly her blood boiled at what they were saying about him. It took a lot to get her truly upset but they had managed to get her face flushed with anger in about thirty seconds. "Who the hell do they think they are talking about you like that?! They're acting like your some dragon that has me trapped in a tower! I should go down there and-"
"If you're trapped in a tower does that make you a princess or something?" He teased in an amused tone cutting her off.
"Shut up!" She said, although his joke had managed to take the edge of her anger. "I'm trying to defend your honor."
"Wait, so are you a princess in a tower or a knight in shining armor defending my name?" He said stepping towards her, a smirk on his face. She was almost frustrated at him for not taking this seriously but that dumb smirk on his face made up for it. He took her chin in between his finger and thumb, tilting her head up towards him.
"You don't need to worry about what they say. That's nowhere near the worst things said about me." He said, his tone was calm and soothing. "It is cute how mad you are right now." He said moving his hand to squeeze her cheeks.
"I'm not cute I'm a threat." She said, her voice slightly muffled by his grip on her face. Bakugou let out a real laugh and she felt herself shining proudly internally at the feat. When he laughed, really laughed not the little chuckles or scoffs he usually did, it was like music to her ears. It was a pretty rare thing especially if you compared it to how often she laughed.
"I'm more concerned about you. Most people don't want their face plastered all over TV's and magazines like that. I don't want you to get overwhelmed by them. I'd understand if you didn't want to be with me. They can say awful things and the second they do I won't hesitate to-" Harper cut him off.
"It's okay, I'm pretty tough." She said taking the hand he had on her face in her own hands. "I know it'll probably be annoying but it's a small price to pay to be your girlfriend." She said smiling up at him. His serious expression melted into a soft one.
"You might not be saying that when the internet is making memes of you." He said.
"Wait, does that mean there are memes of you?" She asked in an excited voice.
"Please don't look them up." He groaned.
"Oh! I'm gonna look them up!" She said grabbing her phone out of her pocket but she was nowhere near as fast as him. Before she could even unlock her phone he had it in his hand and in the air above her. "Hey! No fair, you don't have to oppress me with your height." She said as she hopped up and down trying to grab at her phone.
"Come on, idiot. Let's eat breakfast." He said rustling her hair with his other hand.
"Fine, but after I eat you'll be no match for me." She said in a serious declaration.
"Okay, Fatgum." He scoffed.
"Huh?" She said unsure of the reference.
"He's a hero that gets stronger the more he eats, ah never mind I forget you don't know any of the heroes out here." He said, walking to the kitchen with her.
"Hey! I know All Might." She defended. "And my friend is always going on about Deku."
"Ugh, Deku." He groaned.
"Do you know him?" She questioned as they sat down at the table.
"I've known him since we were kids. It's a long story." He said.
"I have time." She said, hoping to coax the story out of him.
"We weren't on great terms growing up. We didn't get along. We were rivals in high school but eventually, I started seeing him more as a friend than someone I couldn't stand. It took a long time but we ended up becoming good friends. It doesn't mean he doesn't get on my nerves. I still see him as a rival, I still want to be number one and I will take it from him one day." He said. She assumed that was the short version of that story, she hoped she could hear the full story sometime but she didn't want to push him to tell her something he didn't want to yet.
"I believe in you, I think you can." She said before taking a bite of rice.
"You've barely even seen me fight." He scoffed.
"True, but what I did see was pretty impressive and as someone who's been rescued by you I can say you did a great job. Anyways, I know how determined you are. I know that if you want something you're going to get it even if it takes some time." She explained.
Bakugou stared at her for a moment, processing her words. He smirked before taking a bite of his food.
"I was thinking we could stay in today, I had somewhere I wanted to take you but it's supposed to rain all day and I don't want you getting sick." He said. "We can go to the store later and get stuff for dinner." He said.
Harper wondered what they would do, Bakugou didn't seem like the type that handled lazy days well. She was glad for the break, she had a great time yesterday but between the past two days and the jet lag, she was feeling tired.
"That sounds nice." She said.
They finished breakfast, chatting about different things.
"I was thinking we could watch a movie." He said picking up the dishes from breakfast.
"Here, let me clean up." She said, trying to take the plates.
"No." He said in a firm tone holding them out of reach. "You're my guest, I'm not letting you clean up. Go pick a movie, they're in the drawer below the TV." He said. She let out a sigh, she knew he was more stubborn than her so she figured it was pointless to argue.
"Fine." She said, walking into the living room. It was easy enough to find the drawer he was talking about. She looked through the collection interested to see what kind of movies he had. Most of them were Japanese movies she had never heard of, they looked to be action, some of them looked more like dramas and thrillers. Some of them were American movies that were also of the same genres. She perked up when she saw a few Ghibli movies. The grey clouds through the large windows gave the room a soft and cozy ambiance, it only felt right to watch a Ghibli movie.
Harper was surprised to see Howl's Moving Castle in his collection. She supposed it made sense, even if he could be rough around the edges she got to see a very soft side of him that she doubted others saw often. She put the movie in, sitting down on the couch waiting for Bakugou.
"Of course you picked that." He said before sitting down on the couch.
"I'm kind of surprised you had it." She admitted.
"What? They're good movies." He said looking away, hand on the back of his neck. She laughed at his flustered expression. He leaned forward starting the movie.
The movie began and Harper was suddenly very aware of the distance between them. There was a solid foot in between them and she wanted to close the distance but she felt awkward about it. Yes, she was pretty much on his lap last night sobbing into his chest then spent the rest of the night clutching onto him but it was different now. It was far easier to initiate contact when one of them was in distress. She cursed her lack of experience, she was so bad at this dating thing. Should she scoot over and put her head on his shoulder? Or maybe she should just ask him? What if he didn't want the contact right now. Was she being clingy?
Twenty minutes passed. Twenty minutes of her peeking over to watch him for any reactions. On one glance she saw him yawn and stretch. Was he going to-? He finished stretching putting his right arm on the back of the couch behind her. She could feel the side of his arm barely brush against her shoulders. Wow, he really did that. Subtle. She didn't miss the glance he tried to sneak at her. She took that as an invitation.
Harper scooted over, subtly as possible, leaving only a few inches in between them. She saw him steal another look at her. Another few minutes passed without any movement. She decided to be bold. She reached her hand back, grabbing his arm that was behind her and she moved it onto her shoulders. Bakugou looked over at her, a slightly shocked expression on his face. They stared at each other for a moment but said nothing.
Bakugou responded by pulling her in closer, closing the distance in between them. She smiled content. She looked up at him with her smile before resting her head against his shoulder.
Finally happy with their seating arrangement Harper was able to enjoy the rest of the movie. They finished the movie, making comments and jokes here and there. Harper told Bakugou he should pick the next movie. He decided to stay in the theme of Ghibli movies and picked Princess Mononoke.
"This is my favorite movie!" She said. "Oh, the forests in it are so beautiful." She gushed.
"It's a good movie." He commented. "I'll be right back."
Before he started the movie he went to the kitchen to make some popcorn and return with some drinks. Bakugou then sat down next to Harper but this time he didn't leave any space and they returned to their previous position.
Bakugou had to admit, while he was frustrated that they didn't get to his original plans, he was glad they stayed in. Harper didn't admit it but he knew she was tired. She needed a day to rest. Despite his collection, Bakugou didn't watch movies very often. He usually didn't have the time, if he wasn't working he was eating or sleeping. It was hard for him to sit still even when he did have free time. But as it turns out, watching a movie with your girlfriend was enjoyable. He attributed that to the fact that she was currently resting against his shoulder as if it was the best pillow she had ever encountered.
Soft snores came from the girl leaned against him. He let out a soft laugh. He knew she had needed more rest. It made him happy, that she felt safe enough with him to fall asleep on him. He moved her, gently as he could, so that she could lay down, head resting on his lap. He wanted her to be comfortable as she could be. He knew she shouldn't sleep too long or she wouldn't be able to go to bed at a normal time, but he would let her rest for a while.
It was hard to keep his hands to himself. The movie was now forgotten, his eyes on the girl on his lap. He took in her soft features, her expression so peaceful. She was so beautiful, if he wasn't careful he could get pulled too deep into his own emotions. The sight of the bandage on her jaw pulled him out of his feelings. When he looked at it too long it still made guilt well up in him. She made it clear she didn't blame him but it was hard not to blame himself. The insecurity that had plagued him so strongly in his youth was quick to return. If you were stronger you could have protected her better. You let this happen because you were weak. I'm not mad at you, you don't have to be mad at yourself. Harper's words from the aquarium echoed in his head. They were quick to quell the thoughts that flooded his mind.
He softly touched her cheek. He was so happy to have her in his life. He just hoped that he could be good enough for her.
The movie ended and he decided he should wake her up. It was lunchtime and he was getting hungry.
"Harper." He said softly, grabbing her arm. She didn't move.
"Harper." He repeated a little louder, shaking her softly. She let out a snore but didn't show any signs of waking up.
"Harper, wake up." He said louder, shaking her a little more. Nothing.
He let out a frustrated sigh. He supposed all his efforts in the past to not move her too much in case he woke her up were pointless. It seemed Harper was a very heavy sleeper. He moved her so he could get up. If she wasn't awake he figured she must need the sleep. He grabbed a blanket, laying it over her before going to the kitchen.
It didn't take long for him to make lunch. His attention was pulled from the stove to the girl walking into the kitchen, blanket wrapped around her.
"That smells good, is it lunch already?" She questioned in a groggy tone.
"Figures, the smell of food would wake you up more than me trying to wake you up." He scoffed.
"Rude." She said walking behind him, pressing her forehead against his back. His heart fluttered at the simple gesture.
"It's almost ready." He said.
They ate lunch and went back to watching movies. Time flew by faster than he realized. It was late in the afternoon when his phone started to ring. It was Kirishima.
"Hey, bro!" Kirishima's voice came through the line. "What are you guys up to tonight? Suki and I were thinking we could go on a double date." Bakugou rolled his eyes.
"I'm teaching Harper how to cook tonight. You and Suki can come over for dinner if you're feeling brave." He replied.
"Hey!" Harper said lifting her head from his shoulder with a pout, smacking his arm playfully.
"That sounds good, let me know what time we should come over." He said.
Bakugou looked at the time, it was late in the afternoon. They still needed to go to the store.
"We have to go shopping, I'll text you when we're back." He answered.
"Sounds good, we'll see you later," Kirishima said before hanging up.
"I guess we're having dinner guests," Bakugou said to Harper.
"Kirishima and Suki?" She guessed.
"Yeah." He replied.
"I hope I don't mess up with dinner." She said. "Giving Kirishima and his fiance food poisoning wouldn't be a very good thank you for him helping you rescue me." She laughed.
"No one's getting food poisoning in my kitchen." He reassured her.